Hey everyone!
Has anyone build a tire swing, placing the tire horizontally? It is like the ones you see in city parks, except she wants to use rope instead of chains and it will hang from tree limb and not an apparatus. I think it will be hard to tie knots on three ropes equally to get the tire to hang flat. Any ideas?
JR in Mondovi Wisc.
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Replies
Knot hard at all. Just poke a hole in each place for the rope, push the ends thru, add a washer and tie a figure 8 stopper knot. Gather the ropes up in equal length and at the chosen height (from a few feet to all the way at the top) gather them together and tie another figure 8. Yer done. (Pretty much the same way you make a climbing anchor, BTW. And those ropes HAVE to be equalized.)
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Google search is your friend. You are going to need some specialty hardware.
http://www.pppresentations.com/html/support_systems.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_17381_hang-tire-swing.html
http://www.swingset.com/products.asp?dept=44
http://www.inventiveparent.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd=action&key=outdwlsr
I think the ropes would be fine, just make sure they don't rub on any metal (even the steel treads inside the tire itself)
I would also want some kind of swivel at the top. Your kids will get this thing spinning and if they're sitting in it, the ropes are going to get real tight, real fast. Could acutally hurt someone pretty bad.
I don't recomend ropes. They tend to rot or wear. The last thing you want is your work to be responsible for some accident on the swing.
Things like rotting ropes or a wear spot tend to be overlooked over the years.
Unless you want to worried about it make it bullet proof so you don't.
I use chains. But if you're set on ropes over engineer it. Make it bullit proof.
"Make it bullit proof."
kids don't bounce anymore?
used to when we were kids ...
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I know what you mean by over protecting kids these days.
All I can say is I've built two tall swings in the yard of two past houses and when the kids really got it going high in my mind I worried about it failing.
I just want peace of mind knowing that they won't fall because of my lousy work.
If they fall because of their own mistakes there's not much I can do about it.
Another thing about swings and playground equiptment in general. The manufactured swings and slides used to be MUCH taller. If you go into a real small town you might still see some tall ones.
When I build swings they are 35-40 feet tall.
It was a right of passage to be injured by various playground equipment when I was a kid. I caught a solid wood swing in the forehead in sixth grade and was very proud of the resulting hairline crack in my skull. Nothing wrong with a little danger in the parks or schoolyards. Keeps the little devils on their toes.
Heard a story on NPR the other day about some guy who started a camp so kids can take risks and do "dangerous" stuff they don't usually get to do, like use power tools, take apart dishwashers, play with fire & knive, drive cars, etc.
Their parents have to sign a waiver noting that their kid could be seriously injured, or KILLED, at this camp.
It's packed. Kids love it. It's called "The Tinkering School". The founder was inspired to start it when a neighbor kid was told he wasn't allowed to play with a stick -- too dangerous!
Sheesh! If my kids were still camp age, they'd be there.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Found the story. Recommended listening:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93278600
Edited 8/15/2008 8:13 am ET by MikeHennessy
Thanks for the link. Sounds like a lot of fun. Says something about where we are that you have to run a camp to do what we did on the way home from school.
I'm waiting for some one to notice that since all the statistics show the majority of kid's injuries occur in the home, there should be mandatory helmet laws within all private houses.
"Sheesh! If my kids were still camp age, they'd be there."And YOU!"I started the Tinkering School because it’s the kind of thing I would like to have been able to go to myself."http://tinkeringschool.com/blog/
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Did not see anything there where thy let kids bash old cars with sledgehammers and then the dozer and then the backhoe.
KIDS LOVE to do that!.
"Did not see anything there where thy let kids bash old cars with sledgehammers and then the dozer and then the backhoe. "
Kinda like this? LOL!
View Image
A neighbor kid running the digger. His Mom was a trooper to let him do it, and even had the nerve to watch and cheer him on!
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Yep - saw the earlier pix with your son as the operator on digging holes.
Mine is an old Ford 4500, the grandkids love it, but make the 5 YO sit on my lap to operate it as he can get a little wild.
Well, not my kid -- just a neighbor that was fascinated with the dig, so we let him give it a try. His little sister, too!
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
I would have been in hog heaven if you had let me do that when I was his age.
"His Mom was a trooper to let him do it, and even had the nerve to watch and cheer him on!"Lucky kid to have a mom like that. I always encouraged my girls to climb trees, to come up on the roof with me, to learn to use power tools, etc. I said "you can do it, I know you can"; the wife said "don't go too high, you might get hurt". It's a good thing DW didn't come along when I took my 16-year-old daughter out to a snow-covered parking lot and taught her how to make the car skid and then regain control. :)
BruceT
"Did not see anything there where thy let kids bash old cars with sledgehammers and then the dozer and then the backhoe."You let your grandkids bash your dozer and backhoe with sledghammers?
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
I would prefer rope if I was on the tire swing. From my memories, a chain can pinch small pieces of skin when the links move a bit. The only fear from a rope is a rope burn, but you would have to try hard to get a burn from a tire swing.I'm no rope expert, but couldn't the OP just use a high quality rope and specifically state to replace is every 2, 5, or 10 years (whatever is needed)?
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
That would work. The right rope replaced every so often. But from my experience it doesn't get replaced. It sits out exposed and gets overlooked.
look at playgrounds. Do they use ropes?
I don't think that the larger links would pinch when it just grabed (vs trying to stick a finger through a link).But you can sleave the chain with hose or tubing..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
I'd be sure to drill drain holes in the down side, mosquitoes and West Nile is a real thing.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
You gonna play that thing?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Ln-SpJsy0
Use an old car universal joint and wheel hub and bearing for the swivel, work great, just tie 3 ropes to a ring welded to the UJ.
Some small country public school used to use tires as play things at recess and P.E.... The problem came from the parents.... The moms hated the tires because the old rubber would oxidize leaving black marks on the kids' clothes.... ;>)
Bill